So... uh, not sure where this came from, but I couldn't just leave it lying around in my head. Especially when I need something to take my mind off of the gloomy setting of True Grit. All I know is that I like to write about sexy things and this originally somehow stemmed from an offbranch of an offbranch of said story, which somehow involved GrimaRobin being a narcissist.

This is just a quick one-shot. I don't intend to do much with it at the moment. After putting up chapter six of True Grit, I just wanted to take a short break and get this one out here.

I don't own Fire Emblem.

Hooray for euphemisms.

It was Chrom who said it first, not long after their victory on Mount Prism. Naga explained how she would teleport the Shepherds onto the Grima's back, giving them the most opportune moment to strike down the fell beast.

"Talk about riding a dragon…"

It was heard sparingly during the final days leading up to their climatic battle, jokingly tossed about by some of the Shepherds.

"At least I can cross dragon riding off of my bucket list!"

These two types of uses made the most sense, as they would be fighting on top of Grima. After its defeat and the disappearance of Robin, the phrase aptly vanished from Shepherd lexicon. The phrase was tied to a single event in their history and would not surface again.

So after Robin was discovered several months later, Ricken found himself confused at the term's revival. They had finished their fight with Grima, the only physical dragon witnessed in over a millennia, and Naga was more of a spirit entity than an actual blood and flesh being. Manaketes were almost dragons, but branched off in the end at some point in history when they chose to hide their true form. Sure, Nowi kept telling him that she was a dragon, but her size paled in comparison to Grima's form.

And he was pretty sure that wyverns weren't dragons either. After all, it was Cherche who said that even Minervykins would get to experience the ride. So wyverns were definitely discounted from the use of the phrase.

So why did Tharja enjoy using the term so much?

He had first heard at a banquet where Robin was formally reintroduced to the Shepherds. Though they had known that Robin was found, very few had privy to his company until the feast. Tharja never left his side that night, as it was well known how the stalker had been after his disappearance. True, the two had moved somewhat past that point in their relationship, but it was obvious how time had affected the sorcerer.

Towards the end of the festivities, the Shepherds were beginning to retire for the night. It was at this point that Tharja stood up and began to leave, leading a somewhat confused Robin in her hand. She had never done this to Robin before. Nor had any woman had the opportunity to do so, as Robin had chosen to remain celibate during the wars. But Tharja did that night, ignoring the smirks and murmurs.

"And where are you taking my friend to on this night, Tharja?" Chrom asked, somewhat entertained but also questioning the sight in front of him.

She looked over her shoulder, staring at the prince dead in the eye for a quick moment before speaking with no hesitation in her low voice. "Dragon riding." She resumed pulling the helpless tactician along.

This drew a bewildered look from Robin. The man tried to ask her what exactly was going on, but Ricken could hear no more as they rounded the corner in the Ylissean royal castle. Thus, festivities ended for the night.

He then started to hear it more and more often. As he was the heir of a royal house, he often had business to attend to in the castle, often meeting with Robin and Chrom and his wife. However, every now and then Tharja would come and join them in their meetings, particularly when it came to diplomatic affairs with Plegia.

And though she didn't do it all the time, she would throw about the term "dragon riding" into just about any sentence where the conjugation made sense.

"I'm dragon riding today," she said one day during a quick lunch break when it was just the three of them. Robin almost choked on his food.

"Dragon riding? Seems like a bad idea today, but…" she said to herself one morning, looking out the window.

She never gave any contextual clues. At most, Ricken was only able to make out any sort of direction when her faint whispers woke him up in the library late at night.

"Dragon riding in here would be fun, don't you think, Robin?"

"But Tharja… Ricken's-" there was a fumbling of cloth and a sharp gasp, "Ricken's asleep right there!" they whispered to each other.

"Oh, hush," she gave a soft chuckle, "You know you like this."

He was actually glad that their voices had awoken him. He was supposed to have returned to his household long ago. Packing up his things, he happily thanked them before closing the library doors.

Besides, the walk back gave him ample time to start figuring out the context of the phrase. From what it sounded like, it was most definitely an action. And it was most likely done with two people. Or more. Or maybe just one. And it could be done in a variety of places.

It wasn't really helping him. That night he tossed and turned, trying to figure out exactly what those words meant. But thankfully he would not be required at the castle the next day. He found it a little odd, but he welcomed it nonetheless. He still had some responsibilities to take care of as the heir to his household, but it would finally give him time in the early evening to take the question to the closest source he could possibly find on the continent.

He found Nowi in one of the outer courtyards not too long after dinner. The summer season had come and so there was still light out, though it was beginning to get lower in the sky. She was playing with some of the younger children, her hands linked with theirs in a circle. He called out to her and when she heard his voice she dashed over to him.

"Hi Ricken! Have you come to play with the kids this evening?" her bubbly smile was all over her face.

He was always happy to see her. Her personality had a way of putting him at ease. "No, sorry, but I actually come to you with a question today."

"Oh, I love questions! What is it?"

"What's dragon riding?"

"Ha, that's easy! Here!" in a quick flash of light and a burst of pink petals she had transformed into her Manakete form. The children ooh'd and aah'd at the form, and she quickly lowered herself to the ground.

"Hop on, Ricken! Have you ever done this before?"

Excitedly clamoring onto her back, he started to speak. "No! How do I do this?"

"Just put your arms and legs around my neck and hold on tight! But since this is your first time, we're gonna start off slowly, okay?" without waiting for him to respond, she flapped her wings and the pair took off. They weren't moving very fast, maybe the speed of a galloping horse, but they were a respectable distance from the ground, gliding about the seat of the Halidom.

"So this is dragon riding, huh..." he started. His hat had threatened to fall off during their flight, but he was able to catch it before it removed itself from him.

"Yeah! Isn't it fun?"

"I can see why it's fun," he said. "But it feels like I'm still missing something."

"Hmm…" Nowi sounded a little disappointed.

"… Hey, Nowi, can we go faster?"

"Faster?" her voice perked up.

"Yeah, faster!"

"Faster!"

He was forced to leave his hat behind as Nowi zoomed off. He could feel the wind in his hair and his eyes, his cloak whipping off his back.

She took him up and down and up and down, spiraling and spinning and dipping and looping, executing deep swan dives and even holding him upside down for a prolonged stretch. All he could see were a mix of lights with the sun casting its now orange rays onto the capitol, bursting into a flurry of colors and lights in front of his eyes. At one point he even wondered if he was seeing straight. Or at all. All he could do was scream and yell at the top of his lungs in both joy and fear as Nowi kept at her theatrics.

All good things came to an end, however, and the ride was no different. Eventually settling down on an empty field on the edge of Ylisstol, Ricken disembarked before stumbling forward. He rolled onto his back, staring at the stars dotting the night sky.

"Wow."

It was all he could do to describe it.

"Fun, right?" Nowi had transformed back into her human self, throwing herself down next to him.

"Yeah, definitely," he was breathless. "But… hmm…"

"Was it… Was it not as good as you hoped it would be?" She looked at him, a frown on her face.

Looking back, he smiled at her. "No, it was amazing, just… well, I guess I should explain this. You see, Tharja uses a particular phrase a lot. Dragon riding. And for the life of me I can't seem to figure it out. And I thought that if I asked you I could finally figure out just what she was talking about. The closest I've ever gotten to figuring out even a part of it was when they were about to go dragon riding in the library. But that doesn't make sense, because you can't even ride a horse inside the place, much less a dragon."

He sighed. "I guess it's kind of silly, but it's been bothering me for the longest time."

"Hm…" Nowi thought, "dragon riding, dragon riding."

"I mean, if you can't figure it out, that's fine too. I guess I should just-"

"Ooooh," her voice was suddenly full of realization and energy, a mischievous grin sprouting on her face, "you want to know about that kind of dragon riding."

He sat up. "Yes!" she finally got it! It was like when he learned to cast his very first magic spell, brimming with excitement and trepidation.

"Although… you're a little young for that, don't you think?" she quickly said, sitting up with him. "I mean, you don't even have a speck of a beard yet!"

"Aww come on Nowi, it's been three years since we first met," he felt his lips turn into a pout. "I'm older now!"

"True…" she put her finger to her chin before smiling. "Okay then," she agreed.

He felt a smile growing on his face. "But once we start, we're not stopping, got it? Because there's a lot of ways to do it when it comes to dragon riding. And don't you dare fall asleep on me, cuz I'll eat you."

He was sure she was just figuratively speaking. "I can handle it! How do we start? What do we do?" It was about time he figured out what this whole 'dragon riding' deal was, anyway.

To his confusion, she climbed onto him and pushed his back down onto the grass. "Since this is your first time, I think it's better if you follow my lead first."

"But the word riding would imply that-" he found a finger on his lips.

"Don't worry, Ricken. Just put your arms around me like when we were flying around." She spoke, her hand gliding over to his reddening cheek.

"That would choke you!"

"No, silly!" she laughed. She put her hands over his and moved them onto her waist, "like this."

"O-Oh…" her skin was soft beneath his fingers.

He realized just how revealing her clothes were and suddenly everything he thought he knew about dragon riding was crumbling like a tome that had seen too much use.

"Looks like we're gonna have another secret to add to our pile. Just take me to all those festivals you said we'd see together, okay?"

"W-Wait, is this a bad thing?" she made it sound like it was something he could get into trouble for. Most of their secrets involved somehow getting into trouble. He didn't like getting in trouble.

"Nope! Just relax and let Nowi lead. And if you're good, I might just eat you anyway."

His heart raced as her hands started to trail over his shirt and their lips met.

Ricken was late to the royal castle the next day, and he would have been later had Nowi not brought him back from the field. They were to discuss Plegian matters once more, which meant that Robin and Tharja were present at the table and he needed to be there as they would be going over the role his house was to play in the upcoming diplomatic settlements.

Before he could rush into the castle, however, Nowi turned him around and gave him a soft kiss. "We can go dragon riding anytime you want, okay Ricken?" she whispered into his ears. He dumbly nodded, and she gazed deeply into his eyes. He did his best to stare back.

Suddenly, she quickly let her serpent-tongue flicker just outside of her suddenly mischievous lips for a moment and his cheeks burned, the memories of it still fresh in his mind. He fumbled a clumsy goodbye and watched her wave wildly at him before skipping off, looking for the children from yesterday.

When he finally arrived at the meeting room, Chrom asked if everything was alright, wondering if he was ill. He bit his lip for a moment, reaching for his hat. But then he remembered just how he lost it and he felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

"Oh, everything's fine, Chrom! I was just… um…" his mind fumbled for an excuse. His eyes turned towards Tharja for a moment.

And then he realized why Tharja used those words in particular.

Robin was Grima and that technically made him a dragon of sorts.

"D-Dragon riding." He quickly said, paling a little. "I-I was dragon riding."

Tharja raised an eyebrow at him. Robin leaned his forehead into his left hand and sighed. Chrom stared intently at him.

There was a pregnant pause.

"It was Nowi, wasn't it?" Tharja asked.

He quickly nodded. She was a dragon after all, and everyone knew the two had grown close to each other.

"Did she eat you?"

The tactician's cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, his head turning to face her with wide eyes and his hands dropping onto the table. "T-Tharja!" His voice was almost pleading.

His mind went back to the field that he and Nowi were on.

She did use her mouth on his… well… a-and she… she even…

A-And that long, thin serpentine tongue, how she... how she had-

"I... I-I think so…?" his ears were bright red.

The sorceress smirked at him.

The prince threw his hands up into the air, leaning into his seat in resignation. "Am I missing something here?"

A/N: I feel like Tharja would be the one who wears the pants when it comes to their love life for this pairing. She's blunt, she knows what she wants, and she knows how to get it.

And as a quick note, this takes place after Ricken and Nowi's A support, but before their S. And Robin and Tharja have definitely hit A with Tharja really wanting that S rank. Or X rank. Or the domina-

I think you get the point.

I'm also not sure if this should be in the M rating. Sure, it's definitely nowhere near the graphic level that I have written at before, but still, I wonder.

And again, I love comments and criticisms.